Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Rant No 1
...and your point is?
Maybe there isn't one. But what the hell, I need to rant. Ranting is good - it clears the head of all that oppressive clutter, freshens the air and makes the world seem a sunnier place. So, to business...
'Professional web designers'
Why is it that so many 'professional' web designers produce sites whose underlying code is so very, very bad. Code that doesn't comply with any published specification and that fails to meet any published standard. Code that perpetuates pointless intrusions like commenting-out javascript and styles surely indicates that the designers haven't learned anything new since about 1998 (the last time such a thing was at all needed - if it ever really was). Still sniffing for browsers and screen resolutions is so last millennium. Still its only a web site, no-one dies (well not unless they're using a web interface to contact a health professional or run a nuclear power station, I suppose), so a shiny surface may seem to suffice. And don't get me started on accessibility. But in what other profession would ignorance of and failure to apply relevant standards be accepted in a self-proclaimed 'professional'?
There's a word for professionals who produce work that looks acceptable on the surface but is garbage underneath. Cowboys.
Maybe there isn't one. But what the hell, I need to rant. Ranting is good - it clears the head of all that oppressive clutter, freshens the air and makes the world seem a sunnier place. So, to business...
'Professional web designers'
Why is it that so many 'professional' web designers produce sites whose underlying code is so very, very bad. Code that doesn't comply with any published specification and that fails to meet any published standard. Code that perpetuates pointless intrusions like commenting-out javascript and styles surely indicates that the designers haven't learned anything new since about 1998 (the last time such a thing was at all needed - if it ever really was). Still sniffing for browsers and screen resolutions is so last millennium. Still its only a web site, no-one dies (well not unless they're using a web interface to contact a health professional or run a nuclear power station, I suppose), so a shiny surface may seem to suffice. And don't get me started on accessibility. But in what other profession would ignorance of and failure to apply relevant standards be accepted in a self-proclaimed 'professional'?
There's a word for professionals who produce work that looks acceptable on the surface but is garbage underneath. Cowboys.
# posted by MaxG @ 11:39 PM 
